1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an absorbable screw fastener and to a multi-fire surgical instrument for inserting the fastener into tissue. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an absorbable screw fastener and to a multi-fire surgical instrument having a novel interlock system for preventing actuation of the surgical instrument.
2. Background of Related Art
Various surgical procedures require instruments capable of applying fasteners to tissue to form tissue connections or to secure objects to tissue. For example, during hernia repair procedures it is often desirable to fasten a mesh to body tissue. In certain hernias, such as direct or indirect inguinal hernias, a part of the intestine protrudes through a defect in the support abdominal wall to form a hernial sac. The defect may be repaired using an open surgery procedure in which a relatively large incision is made and the hernia is closed off outside the abdominal wall by suturing. The mesh is attached with sutures over the opening to provide reinforcement.
Less invasive surgical procedures are currently available to repair a hernia. In laparoscopic procedures, surgery is performed in the abdomen through a small incision while in endoscopic procedures, surgery is performed through narrow endoscopic tubes or cannulas inserted through small incisions in the body. Laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures generally require long and narrow instruments capable of reaching deep within the body and configured to seal with the incision or tube they are inserted through. Additionally, the instruments are generally capable of being actuated remotely, that is, from outside the body.
Currently, endoscopic techniques for hernia repair utilize fasteners, such as, surgical staples or clips, to secure the mesh to the tissue to provide reinforcement in the repair and structure for encouraging tissue regrowth. The staples or clips are compressed against the tissue and mesh to secure the two together.
One other type of fastener and surgical instrument suited for use in affixing mesh to tissue during procedures such as hernia repair, is a coil fastener having a helically coiled body portion terminating in a tissue penetrating tip. Instruments have been developed to rotate these helically coiled fasteners into tissue. Examples of this type of surgical fasteners and surgical instruments are disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,221.